Tazewell Co. GOP reacts to attempt to remove Trump from Illinois primary ballot

PEORIA (25News Now) - Five Illinois voters joined others in a handful of states to try and boot former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot, but Tazewell County’s Republican leader argued it’s something that should be settled at the ballot box.

The 87-page objection filed with the state Board of Elections argued two main points: First, that Trump encouraged and refused to stop the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, and second, his actions that day violated his constitutional oath as president and disqualified him for running again.

The objection, like others filed in states like Colorado, Maine, Michigan, and Massachusetts, relies on the 14th Amendment, which states:

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House remove such disability.”

Chairman of Tazewell County Republicans Jim Rule said he was disappointed when he found out about the objection, saying this is something he believed should be decided by voters and not “bureaucrats,” as he referred to the state Board of Elections.

“This is something that should be decided at the ballot box,” Rule said. “If people don’t want Trump to be president, then they can make their voice heard when they vote.”

One of the five voters objecting resides in McLean County.

The objection detailed the events leading up to and after January 6, 2021, when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building as Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence were certifying President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Throughout it all, the objection argued, Trump either allowed the riot to continue, sympathized with the rioters, or encouraged their actions.

Part of their case hangs on the fact that Trump and his defense attorney admitted to the insurrection during Trump’s impeachment proceedings. They did not admit to any culpability but rather said everyone could agree what occurred on Jan. 6 was an insurrection.

Trump has never been charged or tried for insurrection, something Rule also pointed out.

“He hasn’t been charged, he hasn’t been found guilty but yet these folks are making this determination on their own and it really needs to be decided in the courts,” he said.

25News reached out to Free Speech for All, a non-profit attached to the Illinois objection, for comment but did not hear back. We also reached out to Peoria County Democrats via email or phone without a response.

The State Board of Elections said they will hear the objection at a special meeting on Jan. 30 at 9:30 a.m.